191 



Mr. C. A. Wright, of Malta, has noticed that this bird is fond of bathing itself in pools 

 formed in the rocks. 



The following account was contributed by the late Mr. Hoy to Mr. Hewitson's ' Eggs of 

 British Birds': — "The Ortolan Bunting begins to build early in May; it places its nest almost 

 invariably in the corn, preferring rye to other kinds; indeed it is partial to light sandy soils 

 where rye is much cultivated. The nest is placed in some little hollow in the ground, in the 

 manner of that of the Sky-Lark. It is formed of dry grass and roots, thickly lined towards the 

 interior with very fine roots ; in some the inside is furnished with a few hairs. The eggs are 

 four, or five — sometimes, though rarely, six in number. I have never found them breeding 

 except amongst corn. The male is almost incessant in its monotonous song during the pairing- 

 season ; it much resembles others of the tribe, having some resemblance to that of the CM, as 

 well as the Reed-Bunting." 



The song much resembles that of the Yellow Bunting, but is easily distinguishable. Nilsson 

 describes it in the words tink, tink, tink, tink, tjohrr, the last note being long drawn out and 

 harsh. It sings both during the day and throughout the light nights of the arctic summer. 

 The song is uttered when the bird is sitting on a fence, bush, high stone, or the roof of a barn ; 

 and the bird will often fly up into the air for a moment like a Wheatear. Bechstein says 

 " it calls continually and harshly tir-jitz ; and its song, with which it addresses its mate in the 

 neighbourhood of its nest from March to August, is shorter, more lively, and harsher than that 

 of the Yellow Bunting, and can be expressed by the following syllables : — toi-toi-toi-tiritz. When 

 it flies up it makes a peculiar rough sound (Knarren) with its bill." 



Mr. R. Collett writes to us : — " The nest is always placed on the ground. I have found 

 them on hillocks, under long dry grass, under small bushes (particularly junipers), or broad-leaved 

 plants (as, for instance, Aconitum septentrionale, &c), between the roots of trees, or in hollows 

 beneath small tussocks, or between stones. The eggs are four to five in number, and are 

 deposited rather later than those of the Yellowammer." Dresser, who has taken many nests, 

 found them invariably placed on the ground, and generally in the open fields ; in one nest, taken 

 near Uleaborg, he found a Cuckoo's egg. 



We have now before us a series of Ortolan's eggs from Dresser's collection, obtained by the 

 late Mr. Bridger in Holland, and by Dr. Kriiper in Greece. In size these eggs measured from 

 f § inch by f-J to f^ by ff , there being no perceptible difference in average size between eggs 

 from the two localities. The ground-colour is pale ashy grey, sometimes with a faint russet 

 tinge ; and the spots, which are generally distributed over the egg, are pale purplish grey and 

 blackish brown — the former being underlying shell-markings, and the latter overlying surface-spots. 

 The markings are roundish ; and only occasionally do the scratchy hieroglyphics so characteristic of 

 Buntings' eggs occur on the eggs of this bird. Dr. Rey writes us that the average size of twenty- 

 nine eggs of this bird from Germany, Greece, and Sweden is 19-9 by 15*6 millims., the largest 

 measuring 22 by 16-25 and the smallest 18 - 5 by 14-75 millims. It appears to breed in Greece 

 late in May and throughout June. The number of eggs is generally five. 



The following note on its food was published by Messrs. Dickson and Ross while at 

 Erzeroum: — "It is singular that among fourteen or fifteen birds which we examined, shot at 

 different times and places, every one had insects as well as seeds in the crop and gizzard." 



